Recording Audio for my Short Film

I have decided to record all of the audio separately for my film.

This is because there is little to no dialogue in my film. A majority of the voices heard are coming from my main character’s own depressive thoughts, or from a character who visits him in his dreams, who again, is heard and not seen.

I believe that this will give me greater creative control over the finished product. I have never actually created the entirety of the sound in post before, so this will be a steep, but enjoyable learning curve. Ill let you know if I still found it enjoyable when everything is said and done.

From the research I have done on this topic, I found the three YouTube videos that are linked below to be the most helpful when preparing for this project.

These are the techniques I will be using on my film to get better sounding audio.

• Room tone – Recording a few minutes of room tone will help me to fill in the gaps between sound effects and dialogue, eliminating any unusual and distracting silences that would otherwise take the audience out of the film.
• Using stock sound effects – This will help me to get the sounds that are simply not achievable to record by myself. I am hoping that these a few and far between, perhaps not needed at all, but its always good to have that option if all else fails, sort of like a last resort.
• Distance – Judging how far away a sound is coming from, then placing my microphone a sensible distance away from the source of the sound, so that it matches with the image on screen, making it believable, or even exaggerated for effect. I plan to use this for several shots, one being my character arriving home; I will need the sound of the gate opening, his footsteps coming up the steps to his front door, his key twisting in the key hole, the handle twisting, the door opening and his shopping bag rustling. I will achieve this by placing my microphone on the other side of the door to get that realistic tone, then going through several takes of each sound, just so that I have more of a selection when it comes to matching it up in post.
• Clipping – Making sure that my audio isn’t too loud, I shall address this both on set and in post. When recording the sound, I shall check my audio recorders levels, making sure that I m not peeking, aiming to keep my audio between -12db and -6db. If however, my audio is still going into the red whilst editing, I will reduce the volume. I would like to keep the volume even throughout the film.
• Being aware of my environment – Making sure that all appliances are turned off that could cause unwanted noise when recording audio. These could be, a computer, fridge, television, or radio. It will also be wise for me to listen out for planes, trains and automobiles, as these unwanted sounds can be a right pain.
• Be artistic – Perhaps I could use objects that are different to the source objects in my video clips, creating a more pronounced or fitting sound for the mood I wish to project in my film. Play around with different objects until I find the right sound for my narrative.